Intelligent automated assistants (or virtual assistants) provide an intuitive interface between users and electronic devices. These assistants can allow users to interact with devices or systems using natural language in spoken and/or text forms. For example, a user can access the services of an electronic device by providing a spoken user input in natural language form to a virtual assistant associated with the electronic device. The virtual assistant can perform natural language processing on the spoken user input to infer the user's intent and operationalize the user's intent into tasks. The tasks can then be performed by executing one or more functions of the electronic device, and a relevant output can be returned to the user in natural language form.
While electronic user devices continue to provide enhanced functionality, however, some users can get overwhelmed with notifications, announcements, messages, reminders, or the like. Moreover, it can be inefficient and time consuming for users to deal with each notification, announcement, message, or reminder individually. For example, using speech to interact with a virtual assistant, a user can typically address only a single item, function, or activity at one time. In addition, users may need to wait for a virtual assistant task to be completed before moving on to another task. Such delays, in addition to limiting efficiency, can also break user concentration, which can cause users to forget other items they may have had in mind.
Accordingly, in some instances, it can be time consuming, inefficient, and frustrating for users to deal with multiple tasks—one at a time—using speech to interact with a virtual assistant.